After an intense Friday, watching almost all the bands we wanted and wrestling through the mud in the process and leaving the venue with our My Dying Bride – tortured souls and weary poor old legs after 2 in the midnight, we were almost happy that there were few bands to watch on Saturday.

After sadly missing Epica and Ensiferum due to early stage times I could simply not afford to miss Khold, a must-see for me. They have been sort of a Black Metal mystery for me since they (allegedly) were signed by the mighty Satyr a contract in the woods. Norwegian woods that is. Because anything Norwegian is more Black Metal. Obviously. Then I purchased (downloaded) their Black’n’Roll debut “Masterpiss of Pain” and listened in a loop. I also purchased (downloaded) their following albums and was content that they kept their line. So I had quite an anticipation, I woke Volkan up 3 hours prior with coffee and sandwiches. When we arrived there were about 3 people at the venue (by the end we were no less than twenty). We even met up with new Turkish metalheads before Khold showed up.

Now, Black Metal people and vampires is an obvious metaphor. They have pale skin, dress up black and… can’t stand the sunlight! A Black Metal band in sunlight is always a sad scene. Every time a Black Metal band takes stage in sunlight, a demon loses his trident. Anyway, frontman Gard had similar thoughts when they showed up at 12 sharp at noon, with sunbeams in his eye, about ten hardcore Khold fans at the front and possibly a hangover. The first one of the only two things he said was “it’s early” (the other one being “we have a plane to catch” at the end).

The music of Khold is quite minimalistic at first listening and it is that roll-based ease of listening and the contrasting sound that keeps the listening experience fresh. However, the drummer appeared to disagree as he lost scale quite a few times. Still, the band showed true Black Metal respect and played an entire list (without Kaldbleke Hender, sadly) but the overall experience tasted a little… bitter. Like seeing one of your favourite Black Metal bands in sunlight.

The second biggest surprize of W:O:A 2015, after the Savatage/TSO show, was Amorphis’ special “Tales From the Thousand Lakes” concert. It was a fantastic experience to watch TFTL, myfavourite album of the band, live. We watched a concept show similar to that of Samael the day before. Although it was ironic to watch “Black Winter Day” in a sunny, warm and relatively dry weather after three days of rain and mud, it was music to the ears (literally and figuratively) of many people who were longing for the sun. Following the TFTL session, the band threw in some other hits such as Better Unborn and Against the Widows as well [Özay: Cast Away kept playing in my head for months following the show]. I have seen the tallest ever guy in a metal concert hereand it was a nightmare to fall behind him in the cowd at times. Hopefully, there were wide open spaces and we could get away from him.

We had no idea about this band so we spent our time in the press tent refueling. Frankly, I regretted missing the band when I saw the band on stage on the LCD screens in the press tent. But then again, being too tired, it was very difficult to go to the stage. As a result, I had to suffice watching the band on LCD (I guess Özay didn’t even bother at all). It was so good to see Joe Lynn Turner, Michael Kiske and especially my man Dee Snider on stage. The band played rock/metal classics together with a very crowded orchestra. I went wild in the press tent when they played We’re Not Gonna Take It. Yes, I am sorry for not watching the band in the crowd but I don’t think I would be able watch them under the same conditions if they played again.

It was my first Bloodbath concert and we watched from a little afar. We met Aslı during the concert and broadened the Turkish connection. But we just did not have the time to watch the whole show as we were very excited to watch Morgoth who would be taking the stage soon.

Germany has contributed to Metal music to a vast extent and is the place where it spurted, but it is not as strong when it comes to death metal. Morgoth, if I’m not wrong, is the only German death metal band that I listen. I discovered them back in late 90s with their “Cursed” album and was deeply impressed. It is still my favourite album of the band. Well, the band had been disbanded since the day I discovered them until 2010 and watching them live was beyond any dream. What’s more, the band had very radically split up with their industrial album “Feel Sorry for the Fanatic” and went off the rails. They had not expressed their apology for changing styles through a mere interview or statement but directly with their album title, something which at least I have never heard of. The band seems to resume their death metal career with their live album “Cursed to Live” (2012) and “Ungod” (2015).

It meant a lot to me to watch this resurrected legendary act so we left Bloodbath halfway through and rushed to the Circus Tent covered in blood to watch Morgoth. We were lucky and we could find places in the front row. I think that was because of the death metal bombardment that was going on at the time. First Bloodbath, then Morgoth, and then Cannibal Corpse, and finally Obituary as dessert… This being the running order, the death metal fans had to split up and make their choices.

Despite playing on a small stage, Morgoth made the most of the time they were allowed. They put up a great show and their dialogues with the audience was very good (see: Shining as the opposite). They played a lot from the “Cursed” album and truly amazed me. We felt that old school feeling in our bones. In fact, that could be the two-word summary of the Morgoth show: OLD SCHOOL!

Cannibal Corpse is not only an iconic Death Metal band. It’s not that they have been playing without compromise and leading the Death Metal scene more than 25 years. They are (possibly) the first Death Metal I ever listened to. Back in (again, possibly) 1993. I somehow purchased the cassettes (yes, back in my days we would listen music from cassettes) of their first three studio albums, “Eaten Back to Life”, “Butchered at Birth” and “Tomb of the Mutilated”. I really don’t remember why I bought all three, because the first time I listened I was in such a sweet shock, never knowing that music can be so… Cannibal Corpse-y. Maybe it was the fancy cover art, I don’t know. After the first three staple albums they went on to record about sixty or seventy more studio albums so I lost track. And to an uneducated ear, all the music of Cannibal Corpse would sound exactly the same. But when you dedicate yourself and delve deeper into their music you will appreciate the grotesquery, the violent fantasy world in the lyrics (strictly parental advisory stuff) and the incredibly complex song writing, which is easy to miss through all the blood and gore and other putrid bodily secretions. Especially the mastery of Alex Webster (bass) in leading the melody and Paul Mazurkiewicz in setting the tempo through the slow and unnerving passages between the blast beats define the trademark Cannibal Corpse sound. And never forget the quintessential “brutal” vocals of Chris Barnes and George Fisher after him. Oh and the shredding. Lots and lots and lots of shredding. And there you have your Death Metal formula.

And we were so lucky that what we experienced was simply that – true and fun Death Metal. From some distance, sadly. And being exposed to Sabathon who played at the adjacent stage. But still, we enjoyed classics like Skull Full of Maggots, Hammer Smashed Face, Make Them Suffer and others, Webster again leading the show. Fisher’s headbanging is top class, which could only be shadowed by Aslı (see the video below) who stole the attention around us.

A possible low point was to miss the band’s entrance. Due to the crowded running order we couldn’t leave Morgoth and reach Cannibal Corpse in time. The stages may be close to each other but that mud… The Party Stage field was still like crap and so the show was not as enjoyable as it was supposed to be. There weren’t many fans. There were vast open spaces in the crowd. The mosh pit was 10 % of what was expected under normal circumstances. The band got off the stage earlier than planned, perhaps because of this.

Judas Priest was stuck between a mighty clash which left us (me at least) bound hand and foot. Exumer, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse and Judas Priest taking the stage at the same time was so unfortunate. Özay had his peace of mind as he didn’t give a damn about Exumer or Judas but for me it was like a Russian Roulette. In the end, we had to sacrifice Exumer 😦 Then we watched a lengthy part of Judas Priest before we ran for Obituary. They played Dragonaut from Redeemer of Souls and one more song – as far as I remember. I guess the list on Setlist is scrambled because Judas Priest played their songs in a chronological way. Halford gave an account of each following song and album. It was like an applied lesson in Judas Priest. Well, it was had to leave the field when they were playing Electric Eye, but we did not want to miss Obituary.

Shortly after Cannibal Corpse, I discovered Obituary in their masterpiece “World Demise”. Together these two bands shaped my taste in music so it was the treat of a lifetime watching these two back to back. They even had half an hour in between so we could make it in time. In retrospect, these two bands made the person that I am. Otherwise I would be better adjusted to society I guess. A little more boring, though.

Also from the USA, the music of Obituary is quite different than Cannibal Corpse. They play a notably lower tempo, vocal-led (oh and what a voice!), doomy-death metal. They also lack the gory aspects in their lyrics. Unlike Cannibal Corpse’s unimaginative, written-in-blood logo, Obituary have the best logo. Ever.

Obituary lacked continuity and band consistency in years. They underwent a prolonged hiatus and never really re-formed, actually. But their impressive stage presence shows none of that. The energy, the precision in performance, the dialogue with the audience… I could go so far as to claim that given the live performance, Obituary to Death Metal is what Iron Maiden is to Heavy Metal. Of course, we went berserk to the classics like “Slowly We Rot”, “I Don’t Care” and even the songs we’ve heard the first time, with an energy we never knew we had left. At the end of the show we had about an hour to Shining. Not enough resting time.

If my memory serves me right, the first time I listened to Cradle of Filth was in 1997. Back then, the band only had two albums: “The Principle of Evil Made Flesh” and “Dusk and Her Embrace”. The albums were different from each other but we fell in love with both of them and just couldn’t decide which one was better. Although the band took different paths with their following albums, it is not easy giving up on a band that you have listened to for 18 years. Personally, I am roasted at times by die-hard true metal fans for my fondness for the band but still I am a big COF fan and it was very important for me to watch them live.

I can easily say that COF met my expectations and even shot above. The played their fantastic setlist like a true winner in a very powerful, dynamic, and flawless way and I just stood there with my jaw dropped. I heard some rumors after the show that Dani did lip-syncing but I did not find it credible. I hope it is not true. The drummer’s performance brought tears to my eyes. It was like the epitome of playing-like-an-über-mensch. If I am not mistaken, Dani said somewhere in during show that the drummer had his baby born the day before but came to Germany for the festival. He also joked with the English fans. He asked “anyone from England?”. When people raised their hands, he said “Weird, how did you manage to get away? I guess you’re not going back tomorrow”. I can say that he has a pretty good dialogue with the audience for a black metal singer. They are even so humble, when compared with Shining [see below], that you can invite them to stay at your place.

The main argument of the anti-COF critics is that they are a “t-shirt band” who sell more t-shirst than albums, that they have too much keyboards, are mainstream, posers, etc. I can agree with them all, save for being posers, but IMO, they don’t cast a shadow on the band’s success. After all, Iron Maiden, too, sells as many t-shirts as albums. COF clearly stands out in the musical perspective. Despite releasing albums very frequently and being too popular among kids, they still release quality albums. Melodic extreme metal, black metal with keyboards, English style black metal, atmospheric dick metal, call it what you may, COF is the number one in that genre.

The last ever show we would watch at Wacken 2015. Exhausted, legs hurting, ears buzzing, neck stiff, sleepless, a little cold, feet numb but also happy. And we didn’t let fatigue get the best of us. We were about to see Shining. Especially I was in great anticipation. Volkan doesn’t really like depressive music.

Shining is an exceptional band. In many senses. They are eccentric, progressive and quite infamous. A band it may be, but essentially Shining is the songwriter Niklas Kvarforth. He founded the band when he was no older than 12, recorded the first EP at 14 as the guitar / bass player, later took over the vocals and lately left the instrument playing largely to other members. The band never had a line-up consistency and worked with lots of session players that include Hellhammer and Attila. The music evolved a great deal since the early, primitive dark metal beginnings to a highly progressive one, famously labelled as suicidal / depressive black metal, although Niklas disowns black and even metal labels. If we are to get creative in music labels one could suggest “Doom’n’Roll” or “Dark Groovy Metal that Makes you Question your Life Choices but Gives you a Smooth Feeling at the End”.

The music is thoroughly depressive, though, and highly incorporates nasty stuff like doodoo abuse, self-mutilation, offing oneself etc. However, Shining distance themselves from the others at the depressive metal scene by not being overly melodramatic, instead focusing on a very well balanced atmosphere and exquisite song writing and performance. The songs may start with such energy, exploding with groovy / punkish riffs, which give way to slower, painful passages, occasional sounds of anguish and more energetic passages and adding a delightful dose of solos and other musical mastery. Niklas’ unmistakable and wide ranging vocals are almost exclusively shouted / shrieked in anger, anguish or despair.

And, for the infamy, Niklas is a bad boy. No mistake. He’s constantly pushing the limits of the rock star roleplay. Cutting / burning himself on stage, assaulting band members and the audience alike, explicit doodoo abuse, girl trouble, you name it. He is also a self-proclaimed nut job, which comes hardly as a surprise. However, there is a distinct group that takes all these shenanigans as a marketing tool, a view supported by the sales numbers.

Finally the band took stage, with a setlist exclusively selected from later albums, opening with “Vilseledda Barnasjälars Hemvist” (that is the actual name, I ctrl+v’d it) from the 6th album and went on to the utterly painful “Ytterligare Ett Steg Narmare Total Javla Utfrysning” from the 5th one, generally accepted as the band’s masterpiece. Then they completely blew the audience away with “Vilja & dröm” from their latest release. This one is such a powerful fist to the face, with an NSFW video befitting the music. The song has a later era Satyricon sound to it, with a surprisingly catchy tune that repeats itself through the song. The ever changing mood and tempo, mastery in performance, especially in alternate leads from the guitarists made us feel good all the while bad. Then bad boy Niklas took stage, interrupted the song, scolded and abused one guitar player obviously for effing up a solo (we never noticed) and after a while suddenly ending the last song “For the God Below”, thus the show, with a simple f*** you. You’re welcome, Niklas. I really don’t know if this wasn’t a pre-arranged stunt or if they would’ve played one more song or two, like “Förtvivlan, Min Arvedel”, maybe?

[Volkan: Niklas roasted the guitarist after a song for making a mistake in the lead. First, he said to the guitarist, through the mike: “You fucked up in the solo. Apoogize!” The guitarist said something inaudible to Niklas. Meanwhile, everyone was dead silent and and it became stone cold. Niklas, then pressed on the guitarist to apologize and then he said to the mike: “I’m sorry; I fucked up” and then they resumed the show. Niklas apparently could not take it all out of the guitarist ‘and then they had a t-shirt crisis after a couple of songs. He asked the guitarist to take off his shirt and he did and played shirtless till the end of the show. Niklas was really looking for ways to create trouble. Talking aggressively with the fans – though the German fans were so calm -, messing with a fan who threw a glow in the dark bracelet in the air, and finally cutting the show in the middle of a song. He said to the mike “That’s enough. Stop it!” etc., in the middle of a lead and finished the show. And yes, he walked off the stage after giving a “fuck you” to the fans. ]

There was nothing we could do to drag our old and worn out metal butts to our tent to prepare for the return trip the next morning. We finished Wacken 2015 with all its glory and fun. We had a huge miscommunication with the badly English speaking German crew as badly German speaking dudes and ended up walking 3 kilometres with fully equipped backpacks. Morale of the story: Get to the airport. Take the available shuttle while it is available.